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In a speech today, Janet L. Yellen the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco said that this recession is likely to be deeper than a typical, "garden variety" downturn.

President-elect Obama is reported to be planning a $310 billion tax cut as part of his $700 billion stimulus program. The tax cuts would provide cash to both individuals as well as businesses.

Madoff may have been the tip of the iceberg, but there are more like him. I've seen them myself. You probably have too.

The press is moving Bernard Madoff back from the front pages, but every day the story becomes more and more amazing.

The only problem is that hope is a lousy strategy for investing, and we are in the middle of a deep and profound recession.

Yale's investment chief, David Swensen sees enormous opportunity in downtrodden assets bonds and even equities. He believes what we are going through is just part of the deal when you invest.

The price of Oil has dropped from $140+ to the mid $30s in a matter of months. It was too high at $140 and it is far too low at $30, even if one factors in a serious decline in global economic activity. Even in these bad times, these investment will pay off and pay off big time. It is a slam dunk.

My wife and I both have 12 month CDs with Corus. They both come due in about a month. My wife just got a really nice box of candies from Corus. I didn't.

It is wonderful to watch the non-profits, with Harvard at the head, mimic the for-profits and pay huge sums to people who have blown their money and lost millions of dollars in elaborate and reckless investments. Who in their right minds would donate money to a non-profit these days, given their total disregard for the obligations they have to their donors.

As the Great Depression set in, countries around the world raced to put in trade protection measures in order to safeguard their own economies. With this downturn, we see countries racing to do something with the same consequences, but without the same political undertones. What is it?

The biggest investment mistakes that I have ever made - from Xerox to Friedman Billings to Canadian oil trusts - have all involved the chase for dividends. I've been reading Billytickets, and while he makes some good points, I believe that investors might be better served to chase corporate bonds in this environment than dividend stocks.

Bernanke dropped interest rates virtually to zero, surprising almost everyone, as part of a very smart – albeit risky – plan to spark institutional and individual investors to get out of treasuries and into other investments. He is betting that in short order the absence of a return from holdings in government securities will push people to start investing in alternative vehicles and institutions to start lending again.

There is no lower to go as the Fed exhausts all of its tools. Japan in the 1990s is the only precedent.